Marcus Algernon Adams (15 May 1875 – 9 April 1959) was a British society photographer noted for his portraits of children. Adams was born in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, the son of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

-based photographer Walton Adams. He began his career as an architectural photographer for the

British Archaeological Association The British Archaeological Association (BAA) was founded in 1843 and aims to inspire, support and disseminate high quality research in the fields of Western archaeology, art and architecture, primarily of the mediaeval period, through lectures, co ...

and took photographs for books by the antiquarian C.E. Keyser. With fellow photographers Bertram Park and Parks' wife

Yvonne Gregory Yvonne Gregory (1889–1970) was a British society photographer. Gregory married fellow photographer Bertram Park in 1916. Gregory, Park and Marcus Adams established themselves as the "Three Photographers" and based their collective studio ...

, Adams formed the "Three Photographers" group in 1920. Based at 43 Dover Street, Mayfair, they each worked independently, but shared use of printing, retouching and darkroom staff. Gaining notability for his portraits of children Adams took the first official photographs of the Duchess of York and her daughter Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II). His 1934 photograph of Princess Elizabeth at the age of 8 was used as the portrait for the $20 banknote of the 1935 Series of

banknotes of the Canadian dollar Banknotes of the Canadian dollar are the banknotes or bills (in common lexicon) of Canada, denominated in Canadian dollars (CAD, C$, or $ locally). Currently, they are issued in $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 denominations. All current notes are i ...

. He continued his work as a photographer of royal children until a sitting with

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

in 1956. Other notable children photographed by Adams included Christopher Robin Milne, John Julius Norwich and Simone Prendergast. He joined the Royal Photographic Society in 1914 and gained his Fellowship in 1915. He was made a life Fellow in 1953 and remained a member until his death.Information from the Royal Photographic Society's membership records. Accessed 18 June 2019. He died in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, aged 83.''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007'' His son, Gilbert Adams (born 24 November 1906), also became a photographer and artist specialising in oil portraiture and landscapes mainly in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. Gilbert assisted his father in his early career. He also joined the Royal Photographic Society in 1935, gaining his Associateship in 1935 and Fellowship in 1938. His great grandson, Andrew Adams has followed in the family tradition and is also a professional photographer running a wedding and marine photography business in Hampshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Marcus 1875 births 1959 deaths Photographers from Hampshire Architectural photographers Artists from Reading, Berkshire People from Southampton